Mobile telecommunication: 900MHz bids top Bt110 bn

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TELECOMMUNICATION
900MHz bids top Bt110 bn
USANEE MONGKOLPORN,
SIRIVISH TOOMGUM,
SUCHEERA PINIJPARAKARN
THE NATION



Amid the relentless competition for licenses state coffers to swell by over Bt200 billion; Somkid say money will be used for national development; denies the price is very high

BANGKOK: -- THE combined price of the two 900MHz licences being auctioned had reached Bt119.108 billion as of 9pm yesterday, reflecting the intense competition in the mobile telecommunications sector.

At press time the bidding, which began at 9am on Tuesday, was still on.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said yesterday that the high bids for fourth-generation licences on the 900-megahertz spectrum would be good, as they would make available more money for the country's development as well as providing financial aid to farmers, who were affected by the sliding agricultural-product prices.

"The bidding, even though it has exceeded Bt100 billion, is not very high if we consider the annual growth and the business potential in the future," he said.

"It's hard to predict when it will end," said National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.

The auction of two 1,800MHz licences last month ended at round 86 after 33 hours of bidding. The total price of both licences combined was Bt80.778 billion.

As of 9pm yesterday at round 144, the bid for the first 900MHz licence block was Bt55.266 billion, while that for the second one was Bt60.842 billion. The starting bid for both licences was Bt12.680 billion.

The combined bids for the two 900MHz licences exceeded Bt100 billion for the first time at 10.36am yesterday at round 113.

This means that the state will be richer by almost Bt200 billion from auctioning the two 900MHz licences this week and the two 1,800MHz licences last month.

NBTC deputy secretary-general Korkij Danchaivichit said the high bids for the 900MHz licences reflected the strong commitment of the bidders' foreign strategic partners that they are ready to invest heavily in Thailand and that they are here to stay.

The four bidders in the fray are Advanced Wireless Network of Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC TriNet of Total Access Communication (DTAC), True Move H Universal Communi-cation of True Corp, and Jas Mobile Broadband of Jasmine International.

Suwat Techawatanawana, first senior vice president of Kasikornbank, said the bank was worried that as the price soars higher it will add to the high operating cost for the bid winners.

However, he said that the current prices were acceptable to KBank, adding that a bidder to whom the bank had issued bank guarantees could afford to deal with the possible higher operating cost.

Though the final price will be high, the winners are allowed to make payments in four instalments and the instalment amounts won't be high when compared with the annual profitability of each of the bidders, he added.

AIS's share price dropped 5.58 per cent to close at Bt203 yesterday, while DTAC fell 7.14 per cent to close at Bt42.25, True dropped 3.29 per cent to close at Bt7.35, and Jas fell 4.02 per cent to close at Bt4.78.

As of 5pm, True executives in the bidding requested more cloth. Takorn yesterday reaffirmed that the service fee on the 900MHz service would be lower than that of the existing 3G services, despite the high price of the 900MHz licences.

The conditions stipulated for the 900MHz licences protect consumers. The bid winners are obliged to cover 50 per cent of the population with the 900MHz network within four years of getting the licence, before rising to 80 per cent of total population in eight years.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/900MHz-bids-top-Bt110-bn-30275181.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-18

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World’s record long bidding for mobile licences enters the 73rd hour today



BANGKOK: -- The world's record long marathon bidding of two mobile phone licences on the 900 MHz spectrums resumed again this morning after a three-hour break with last bidding prices ended on the 163rd round at 130.378 billion baht.

The bid started at 9 am after all the four bidders were given the break at 6 am Friday morning to take part in a ceremony to offer alms and food to monks. The event was hosted by the National Broadcasting Corporation Commission.

The four bidders entered the closed door rooms to bid for the licences on Tuesday at 9 am.

By now the bidding entered the fourth or over 72 hours.

The latest bidding price for the two licences now at end of the 163rd round stood at 131.022 billion baht.

One NBTC commissioner said if the bid dragged into 6 pm today, and the combined price for the two licences skyrocketing to over 70 billion baht apiece, it would become the world’s highest bidding price for the licence.

But now the bidding time has already surpassed the world’s record, he said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/worlds-record-long-bidding-for-mobile-licences-enters-the-73rd-hour-today


-- Thai PBS 2015-12-18